Driving can bring out the worst in us.

This isn't a column about those snarling fighter pilots of the freeway we've all encountered who appear out of nowhere, blast us with their brights until we pull aside, and then disappear just as quickly, leaving us in their jet stream.

No, this not a rant about various forms of road rage. Been there. Done that. This I promise will be far more petty and snarky. After more than 30 years of driving, I am serving up my top 10 driving pet peeves — in hopes that you will share some of your own with us.

So, in no particular order, here goes:

Four-parking-space guy

OK, we get the fact that you treasure your BMW, Lexus or vintage Mustang more than life itself. But the answer to door dings isn't to park smack in the middle of four striped parking spaces, inconveniencing three other drivers along the way.

Did you wrap your bicycle in bubble wrap in the school bike lot when you were a kid?

Suggestion: Find the farthest parking space from your office or the shopping mall and park there. Then, take a deep breath. Exhale. Oh, and stay current on your car insurance.

Failure to move cars off the highway after minor accidents

It's bad enough when private parties decide to get out of their cars to exchange insurance cards while their cars sit motionless in the fast lane. But what really takes the cake is when police officers and firefighters block two or three highway lanes for cars that could easily be moved off to the shoulder.

No thank yous

So you let someone into a long line of traffic after a ball game or a concert and ... nothing. No "thank you" wave, no tip of the cap. No nod of the head. And then you get to follow this guy while he stubbornly refuses to let anyone in front of him.

Dillydallying in the drive-through

This is the equivalent to the shopper who pushes an overflowing shopping cart through the 10-items-or-less line at the grocery store. Rule of thumb: The more harried you are when you drive up to the window at your bank or fast-food joint, the more inevitable it is that you will get stuck behind someone counting out pennies or ordering for the office. Never fails.

Television screens in the back seats

Really? Junior can't go from home to soccer practice without catching those last 15 minutes of TV? Two words: alphabet game.

Cars with heavily tinted windows

Drivers of these cars often conduct themselves as if there's a privacy fence around them. Personal theory: The anonymity of tinted windows contributes to overly aggressive driving. It's easier to cut someone off when you don't have to worry about making eye contact with the driver you almost ran into the ditch.

Texting drivers

It's not just the teens or 20-somethings either. You see people of all ages doing this behind the wheel — even while driving on the highway. Not to sound preachy, but if you think about it, it's really not possible to tap out a text or tweet and drive safely.

Oops-I-almost-missed-my-exit guy

You're driving down the highway and you catch a blur that goes from your left to your right. It's not a bird or a plane. It's an "oops-I-almost-missed-my-exit" guy. This is a daydreaming driver who catches a glimpse of his highway exit at the last possible moment and — instead of pulling off the highway at the next exit — makes a mad dash for it. I saw someone pull this maneuver last week on eastbound Highway 40 at Jefferson Avenue. It's a classic.

Steel plates on the road

Road crews use these things — especially in the city of St. Louis, it seems — to cover what would otherwise be gaping holes in the street. Given the alternative of tumbling into an open ditch, this would seem noble enough. The trouble is that the plates seem to slip and slide in some spots. Last week, I saw where one of two side-by-side plates slid, leaving an opening between them just wide enough for a tire to fit. Memo to city: Work faster or just shut the lane down until the hole is filled.

Municipal speed traps

Legitimate speed enforcement makes roads safer. Illegitimate speed enforcement turns roads into ATMs. Unfortunately, towns that take this latter tack are biting the hand that should be feeding them when potential consumers figure this out. It's just bad business.

Send your driving pet peeves to ride@post-dispatch.com.